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CONFERENCE PANELS
Saturday, April 9th
COMMUNITY
11am-12pm
For Us, By Us: Black Youth Reconstructing Education in Boston
We will discuss how youth-led organizations are actively rethinking education beyond traditional classroom spaces, and how youth leaders drive change within their communities. We are excited to highlight change-makers in the Boston area to amplify models of Black youth problem-solving with purpose and action. The panel will feature youth and adult representatives from Bikes Not Bombs, Teen Empowerment and We Got Us.
Panelists:
Kareem King
Sara Lawrence
Prema Bangera
Carrie Mays
Willington Vuelto
Elijah Evans
Moderator:
Makeeba McCreary
Panel Managers:
Ebonée Green
Markus Sherman
Mekka Smith
12pm-1pm
Community as Currency: Bankrolling Cooperative Power and Liberation through the Black Dollar
This panel will explore the abiding history of Black communal wealth building in the face of exclusion from traditional wealth structures. We hope to activate attendees toward actionable models of cooperative financial stability, mobility, and thriving for Black people and our communities.
Panelists:
Racquel Oden
Nia Evans
Cierra Peters
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Noni Session
Panel Managers:
Maleek Akeju
Kara Murray-Badal
4pm-5pm
Imagination to Fruition: Abolitionist Strategies, Organizing and Tools for Black Liberation in Real-Time
The unjust killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others have prompted calls for defunding – and abolishing – the police and larger Prison Industrial Complex. This panel will center abolition – not merely a distant future, but as a present practice that is already underway in communities across the country. Attendees will leave with a nuanced understanding of strategic frameworks, tools, and tactics for transforming the abolitionist imagination into practice in real-time.
Panelists:
Nikki Grant
Jason Sole
Panel Manager:
Raie Gessesse
Jeneisha Harris
POWER
11am-12pm
Free Your Mind: Unlocking Joy, Peace, and Agency with Black Mental Health Practice
Looking at different perspectives of the black mind, this panel brings black mental health to the forefront. But what if the new solutions we seek are found not in the present, but our shared past? In the spirit of Sankofa, this panel discussion will highlight the culturally-relevant methods of Black mental health practitioners, and how they work to support the needs of Black folk in their care. Attendees will leave this conversation acclimated to the power of black-centered care for sustaining Black mental health and thriving.
Panelists:
Evan Auguste
Dr. Christine Crawford
Valeria Chambers
Dr. Jennifer Brown
Panel Managers:
Mohamed Gabir
Jerald Watson
Giorgio Chatelain
12pm-1pm
The Black Hack: Engineering Equity in the Digital Age
The COVID-19 pandemic and reckoning on police brutality have spurred renewed promises to the Black community by Big Tech, Entertainment, and Media companies alike. We’ve seen innumerable commitments to increased diversity in these industries, financial contributions toward racial equity, and pledges to increasing accessibility in products and services. This panel will address representation and equity in the Tech space and the creation of safe spaces for Black people to thrive and shine in our increasingly digital world. Participants will leave with actionable strategies for how we can each hold tech companies accountable to these promises, both individually and as a collective.
Panelists:
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Melisa Ellis
Jackson Georges
Moderator:
Victor Scotti
Panel Managers:
Didier Dumerjean
Nagela Nukuna
Tioluwani Aderibigbe
Derrick Thomas
2pm-3pm
Black Legislative Power: Recasting Black Politics, from Local to Global
During this 1-hour panel, we will be discussing the challenges and changes for Black elected officials both in America and Germany in the wake of Black voter disenfranchisement, challenges with law enforcement and the fight for better health outcomes for the Black community. We will talk about the role of transatlantic relations and the power of transnational social movements to overcome the shared challenges for marginalized communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Panelists:
Marc Morial
Nsé Ufot
Awet Tesfaiesus
Miriam Mona
Panel Managers:
Hasoni Pratts
Tiaji Sio
4pm-5pm
The Future is Black: Cultivating Potential into Power through Strategic Entrepreneurship and Workforce Development
Whether 1619 or today, Black labor, its value, and its devaluation continue to be the steadfast fuel of American economic prosperity. And as automation and globalization increasingly shift the terms of the economic playing field, it is more critical than ever that Black people are prepared to lay claim to the wealth that our labor has always underwritten. This panel will explore the most promising sectors of tomorrow, and how to adequately infuse our communities with the knowledge, capital, and high-demand skills to achieve lasting mobility and power.
Panelists:
Chike Aguh
Dr. Angela Jackson
Jason Jones
Panel Managers:
Jaylen Hackett
Phela Townsend
COMMUNITY + POWER
3pm-4pm
What’s the Black Agenda? An Interactive Panel and Policy Simulation
During this 1-hour program, attendees will be invited to participate in an interactive panel and policy simulation featuring three contributors from the bestselling book, The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System, edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeeman. Expert panelists will speak to healthcare technology, economic justice, and environmentalism, providing attendees an opportunity to learn about current issues at the nexus of race and public policy. The program will conclude with attendees applying what they’ve learned in an interactive policy brainstorming activity.
Panelists:
Kyle Moore
Arii Lynton-Smith
Ashlee Wisdom
Moderator:
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Lexi Robinson
Editor:
Anna Gifty Opoku-Ageymi
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